Kate’s ‘nerves’ as royal juggling act looms
WHEN THE DUCHESS of Cambridge participated in a virtual show-and-tell meeting with fellow parents at the end of January, she was asked to summarise home-schooling in one word. She could have gone down the uplifting route. She could have said ‘fulfilling’ perhaps, or kept things vague with ‘challenging’. Instead, she chose ‘exhausting’. While Kate admittedly has more support than most, balancing her duties as a mother to three young children with her royal responsibilities and charity work and Zoom meetings (complete with ring light) has still been an unfamiliar juggle. And yet, as the focus moves to the future (post-vaccination roll-out), and the resuming of day-to-day responsibilities, it’s clear that there will be other, less home-based tasks on the horizon, too.
For Kate this will mean sending the children back to school, a transition back to in-person work, and a sharp spike in public events. ‘Catherine has never shied away from doing her royal duties,’ a source tells Grazia. ‘She loves going out and meeting people. She truly relishes learning new things from the experts she meets, and is moved by members of the public doing remarkable things for charity or mental health initiatives. But there is a certain apprehension about a full return to these old ways.’
With Prince Harry and Meghan now based in LA, all eyes will be on Kate and William as the royals return to official public appearances. The Queen, who has been vaccinated, is expected to engage in some duties. But Kate and William will be enlisted more than ever to fill the vacuum left by Prince Philip’s retirement, Prince Andrew’s ousting and Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal life. Their spring schedule has yet to be made public, but William and Kate have already been called upon to meet with President Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden during their planned summer visit. It is, a source says, ‘a huge vote of confidence’ in Kate’s charm. ‘Britain’s links with America are in a rocky state,’ they add. ‘The royal family know that they have the power to turn things around.’ Kate, after all, ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ meeting Michelle Obama, but had no such photo opp with the Trumps.
She will also take centre stage in July, when William and Harry reunite for the first time in more than a year, to mark what would have been their late mother’s 60th birthday. With Meghan expected to stay in the US and tensions between the brothers still high, it is thought Kate will play peacemaker. ‘She and Harry have always got on so well, and Kate has missed having him and his sense of humour around,’ says a source. ‘No one is better placed than her to help them reconnect.’
Life over the past year has been very different from anything she has known, but – as is the case for many of us – there have been some positives amid the sea of negatives. ‘The sole silver lining of the last 12 months has been a sense of real safety,’ a royal insider explains. ‘She has taken great joy from being with the children full-time. But little Louis is about to turn three and nursery beckons. Her young family is growing, and that leaves her room to grow, too.’ All of which means it might not be long before Kate’s using the word ‘exhausting’ once again.